-TheFederal.com On April 15, 2009, Farmers Rajan and PP Baby were surprised to see hundreds of trucks unloading sand in a field adjacent to their land in Kizhakkambalam in Ernakulam district of Kerala, an eastern suburb of Kochi. But the two, who also happened to be CPI(M) activists, were busy with the Lok Sabha elections that were being held in the state the next day and unable to look into the...
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The men behind APMC, MSP and procurement -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The idea of a Minimum Support Price for crops came first from a visiting US soil scientist and fertiliser expert The institution of ‘mandis’ is as old as markets where wholesale trading in primary produce has been taking place since time immemorial. APMCs or Agricultural Produce Market Committees are of more recent vintage and the creation of Sir Chhotu Ram. In 1939, the legendary Farmer leader, as Development Minister in...
More »Bengal worries about bill fallout on PDS source -Pranesh Sarkar
-The Telegraph Laws to hit procurement, say officials Calcutta: Three farm reform bills passed by Parliament recently may play havoc with the public distribution system in Bengal as the state government’s procurement programme is likely to get affected because of entry of big players. The Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill...
More »Farm bills are seen by Farmers to deliver freedom --- not to them, but to private capital -Himanshu
-The Indian Express The fight to retain the APMC despite its shortcomings is also a fight to extract a commitment from the government on maintaining state support to the agricultural sector. On Friday, September 25, Farmers’ organisations across the country gave a call for a bandh to protest the three bills passed by Parliament. These bills, namely the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 (FPTC), the Farmers (Empowerment...
More »Explained Ideas: Why are Farmers unwilling to trust the govt’s farm reforms?
-The Indian Express Farm bills are seen by Farmers to deliver freedom — not to them, but to private capital, writes Himanshu. On Friday, Farmers’ organisations across the country gave a call for a bandh to protest the three bills passed by Parliament. These bills were passed amid protests by the Opposition parties, without discussion in Parliament. Even the government’s allies, such as the Shiromani Akali Dal, have raised apprehensions, lending their...
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